RE: [PATCH v5] net/ice: add MAC anti-spoof option

["Morten Brørup" <mb@smartsharesystems.com>]

> From: Mandal, Anurag [mailto:anurag.mandal@intel.com]
> Sent: Monday, 5 January 2026 12.31
> 
> > VRRP advertisement packets are dropped as TX-errors upon transmission
> > from a vsi of ice PF due to MAC anti-spoof check, which is enabled by
> default.
> > There is no way to disable this security check in the Tx direction to
> avoid these
> > packets being dropped.
> >
> > This patch introduces devargs "mac-anti-spoof" to allow user to
> disable MAC
> > anti-spoof check. Disable MAC Anti-spoof check in the Tx direction to
> send
> > outgoing packets even when their destination MAC address matches one
> of
> > the MAC addresses assigned to that same NIC port and avoid getting
> dropped
> > as TX-errors.
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Anurag Mandal <anurag.mandal@intel.com>
> > ---
> > V5: Addressed CI failures
> >  - Removed ICE_AQ_VSI_SEC_FLAG_ENA_MAC_ANTI_SPOOF
> >    flag as that is causing CI failures and observed
> >    MAC Anti-spoof check is enabled by default
> >    irrespective of that flag.
> > V4: Addressed ASan CI failures & Morten Brørup's feedback
> >  - set the default value of the devargs to 1
> >  - enabled MAC anti-spoof check by default
> >  - provided devargs option to disbale the same
> >
> > V3: Addressed Morten Brørup's feedback
> >  - set the default value of the devargs to 0
> >  - disabled MAC anti-spoof check by default
> >  - provided devargs option to enable the same
> >  - synchronized with source prune
> >
> > V2: Addressed Bruce Richardson's feedback
> >  - changed devargs name to "mac-anti-spoof"
> >  - changed devargs member name to "mac_anti_spoof"
> >  - changed macro name to "ICE_MAC_ANTI_SPOOF_ARG"
> >  - set the default value of the devargs to 1
> >  - added NOTICE log msg when MAC Anti-spoof is disabled
> >  - added more code comments to provide clarity
> >  - fixed typo error with ICE_AQ_VSI_SEC_FLAG_ENA_MAC_ANTI_SPOOF
> >
> >  doc/guides/nics/ice.rst            | 12 ++++++++
> >  drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.c | 44
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
> > drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.h |  1 +
> >  3 files changed, 56 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst b/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst index
> > 6cc27cefa7..c3e9cfaee3 100644
> > --- a/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst
> > +++ b/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst
> > @@ -194,6 +194,18 @@ Runtime Configuration
> >
> >      -a 80:00.0,source-prune=1
> >
> > +- ``MAC Anti-spoof Disable`` (default ``1``)

Suggest removing "Disable" from this headline, to clarify that the default 1 value enables MAC Anti-spoof (does not activate "MAC Anti-spoof Disable").

> > +
> > +  Disable MAC Anti-spoof check in the Tx direction to send outgoing
> > + packets when their destination MAC address matches one of the  MAC
> > + addresses assigned to that same NIC port.By default, these
> outgoing
> > + packets are dropped due to MAC Anti-spoof check.

The default 1 (instead of 0) is a temporary workaround due to CI issues.
This (incorrect default value) should be registered as a bug in Bugzilla.

And a warning should be added to the description here (/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst) that the default 1 is a known bug, and is expected to be changed to 0 at a later time. This warning can refer to the bug in Bugzilla.

> > +
> > +  MAC Anti-spoof can be disabled by resetting the devargs parameter
> > + ``mac-anti-spoof``,  for example::
> > +
> > +    -a 80:00.0,mac-anti-spoof=0
> > +
> >  - ``Protocol extraction for per queue``
> >
> >    Configure the RX queues to do protocol extraction into mbuf for
> protocol
> > diff --git a/drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.c
> > b/drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.c
> > index c1d92435d1..7251b111e0 100644
> > --- a/drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.c
> > +++ b/drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.c
> > @@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
> >  #define ICE_DDP_LOAD_SCHED_ARG    "ddp_load_sched_topo"
> >  #define ICE_TM_LEVELS_ARG         "tm_sched_levels"
> >  #define ICE_SOURCE_PRUNE_ARG      "source-prune"
> > +#define ICE_MAC_ANTI_SPOOF_ARG    "mac-anti-spoof"
> >  #define ICE_LINK_STATE_ON_CLOSE   "link_state_on_close"
> >
> >  #define ICE_CYCLECOUNTER_MASK  0xffffffffffffffffULL @@ -60,6 +61,7
> @@
> > static const char * const ice_valid_args[] = {
> >  	ICE_DDP_LOAD_SCHED_ARG,
> >  	ICE_TM_LEVELS_ARG,
> >  	ICE_SOURCE_PRUNE_ARG,
> > +	ICE_MAC_ANTI_SPOOF_ARG,
> >  	ICE_LINK_STATE_ON_CLOSE,
> >  	NULL
> >  };
> > @@ -1761,13 +1763,46 @@ ice_setup_vsi(struct ice_pf *pf, enum
> > ice_vsi_type type)
> >  		/* Source Prune */
> >  		if (ad->devargs.source_prune != 1) {
> >  			/* Disable source prune to support VRRP
> > -			 * when source-prune devarg is not set
> > +			 * when source-prune devargs is not set
> >  			 */
> >  			vsi_ctx.info.sw_flags =
> >  				ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_LOCAL_LB;
> >  			vsi_ctx.info.sw_flags |=
> >  				ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_SRC_PRUNE;
> >  		}
> > +		/* MAC Anti-spoof */
> > +		/* By default, Source Prune in Rx is disabled
> > +		 * and MAC Anti-spoof check in Tx is enabled.
> > +		 *
> > +		 * Source Prune is disabled by setting local
> > +		 * loopback with ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_LOCAL_LB
> > +		 * flag in the Rx direction.
> > +		 * ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_SRC_PRUNE is added to
> > +		 * prevent transmitted packets from being
> > +		 * looped back in some circumstances.
> > +		 *
> > +		 * MAC Anti-spoof check can be disabled by
> > +		 * clearing ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_SRC_PRUNE
> > +		 * flag and setting Tx loopback with
> > +		 * ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_ALLOW_LB flag in the
> > +		 * Tx direction.
> > +		 */
> > +		if (ad->devargs.mac_anti_spoof == 0) {
> > +			/* Disable mac anti-spoof check in the
> > +			 * Tx direction to avoid outgoing
> > +			 * packets getting dropped as
> > +			 * TX-errors for VRRP support when
> > +			 * mac-anti-spoof devargs is not set
> > +			 */
> > +			vsi_ctx.info.sw_flags &=
> > +				~ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_SRC_PRUNE;
> > +			PMD_INIT_LOG(NOTICE,
> > +				     "Disabling MAC Anti-spoof check "
> > +				     "in the Tx direction does not "
> > +				     "affect Source Prune in the Rx
> direction");

Try shortening the log message to fit on one line, so it is easier to "grep" for.

> > +			vsi_ctx.info.sw_flags |=
> > +				ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_ALLOW_LB;
> > +		}

If implicitly enabled, please PMD_INIT_LOG(WARNING, "MAC Anti-spoof check is enabled"), as this kind of filtering is not the behavior expected by normal applications.
We can probably not distinguish between implicitly and explicitly enabled, so simply log it if enabled.

> >  		cfg = ICE_AQ_VSI_PROP_SW_VALID;
> >  		vsi_ctx.info.valid_sections |= rte_cpu_to_le_16(cfg);
> >  		vsi_ctx.info.sw_flags2 = ICE_AQ_VSI_SW_FLAG_LAN_ENA;
> > @@ -2398,6 +2433,7 @@ static int ice_parse_devargs(struct rte_eth_dev
> > *dev)
> >  		return -EINVAL;
> >  	}
> >
> > +	ad->devargs.mac_anti_spoof = 1; /* enabled by default */
> >  	ad->devargs.proto_xtr_dflt = PROTO_XTR_NONE;
> >  	memset(ad->devargs.proto_xtr, PROTO_XTR_NONE,
> >  	       sizeof(ad->devargs.proto_xtr)); @@ -2467,6 +2503,11 @@
> static
> > int ice_parse_devargs(struct rte_eth_dev *dev)
> >  	if (ret)
> >  		goto bail;
> >
> > +	ret = rte_kvargs_process(kvlist, ICE_MAC_ANTI_SPOOF_ARG,
> > +				 &parse_bool, &ad-
> > >devargs.mac_anti_spoof);
> > +	if (ret)
> > +		goto bail;
> > +
> >  	ret = rte_kvargs_process(kvlist, ICE_LINK_STATE_ON_CLOSE,
> >  				 &parse_link_state_on_close, &ad-
> > >devargs.link_state_on_close);
> >
> > @@ -7732,6 +7773,7 @@ RTE_PMD_REGISTER_PARAM_STRING(net_ice,
> >  			      ICE_DDP_LOAD_SCHED_ARG "=<0|1>"
> >  			      ICE_TM_LEVELS_ARG "=<N>"
> >  			      ICE_SOURCE_PRUNE_ARG "=<0|1>"
> > +			      ICE_MAC_ANTI_SPOOF_ARG "=<0|1>"
> >  			      ICE_RX_LOW_LATENCY_ARG "=<0|1>"
> >  			      ICE_LINK_STATE_ON_CLOSE
> > "=<down|up|initial>");
> >
> > diff --git a/drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.h
> > b/drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.h
> > index 72ed65f13b..5fe4688d57 100644
> > --- a/drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.h
> > +++ b/drivers/net/intel/ice/ice_ethdev.h
> > @@ -617,6 +617,7 @@ struct ice_devargs {
> >  	uint8_t ddp_load_sched;
> >  	uint8_t tm_exposed_levels;
> >  	uint8_t source_prune;
> > +	uint8_t mac_anti_spoof;
> >  	int link_state_on_close;
> >  	int xtr_field_offs;
> >  	uint8_t xtr_flag_offs[PROTO_XTR_MAX];
> > --
> > 2.34.1
> 
> Hi Morten Brørup/Bruce,
> 
> Kindly review this patch. No CI errors reported.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Regards,
> Anurag M